China Copper Supply

China and
China and Global

Global Markets:
Markets:
Copper Supply
Copper Supply Chain
Chain Sustainable
Sustainable
Development
Development
A Life Cycle Assessment Study
Martin Streicher-Porte, Empa

Martin
Hans JörgStreicher-Porte,
Althaus, Empa Empa
Hans Jörg Althaus, Empa
February 2010
February 2010
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2
© 2011 International Institute for Sustainable
Development (IISD)
China and Global
Published by the International Institute for
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Copper Supply Chain IISD contributes to sustainable development by

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Hans-Jörg Althaus IISD’s vision is better living for all—sustainably; its
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i
China and Global Markets:
Copper Supply Chain Sustainable Development
Acknowledgements
The authors thank, particularly, Ms. Ana Rebelo from the International Copper Study Group, Ms. Li
Lan from the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metals, and Mr. Ladji Tikana from
the Deutsches Kupferinstitut for the provision of data and their willingness to think in the spirit of
this study. Furthermore, we thank Ms. Huihui Zhang from the International Institute for Sustainable
Development for managing this challenging international project and Dominik Notter for his
support with the LCA software Simapro.
ii
Abstract
Chinese production of copper cathodes depends largely on imports of copper concentrates, copper
scrap or other intermediate copper products, because the natural occurrence of copper in China can
not satisfy the demand. In this study, the environmental impacts of the global copper supply chain
of copper cathodes produced in China were assessed. A Life Cycle Assessment of copper cathodes
produced in China from primary resources (22.9 per cent), cathodes produced globally from primary
resources and imported to China (12.7 per cent), cathodes produced in China from secondary
resources (18.6 per cent), and cathodes produced in China with imported concentrates (45.8 per
cent) was conducted. The percentages given in brackets represent the share of the production mix
that was assumed for this assessment. A sample of 15 mines, 15 smelters and 15 refineries was
collected and grouped according to the technology applied. The sample covers more than 30 per
cent, 80 per cent and 70 per cent of each category, respectively, of the Chinese production. Data for
copper-cathode production in other global regions and the global average were used to compare the
impacts.
The results show that the environmental impacts of the Chinese production mix for copper
cathodes are lower than the world average and lower than production in Indonesia, Latin America
and other Asian and Pacific regions. The results are in the range of North American impacts, but are
higher than those surrounding European production. The reasons for this are mainly (1) usage of a
lower grade copper ore in China than in Europe, (2) prevalence of a Chinese electricity mix of an
almost 100 per cent fossil fuel footprint, and (3) a relatively low share of secondary copper in the
entire copper mix.
Mining can be improved by focusing on higher grade material, environmental abatement techniques
and environmental restoration of processing sites. The smelter and refinery standards are relatively
good and can be improved by consequent phase-out of old fashioned technologies. A
comprehensive collection and pre-treatment of copper-containing products could increase the share
and quality of copper-cathode production from secondary resources.
The results were tested with five different Life Cycle Impact Assessment methods, which showed
relatively large variations in the impact results. The chosen default evaluation method was Eco-
indicator 99 in the Hierarchist perspective, which lies in the middle of all Life Cycle Impact
Assessment results.
iii
List of Acronyms
CSCSD Copper Supply Chain Sustainable Development
EI99 Eco-indicator 99
EMPA Swiss Federal Institute for Materials Testing and Research
GWP Global warming potential
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
LCA Life Cycle Assessment
LCIA Life Cycle Inventory Assessment
LCI Life Cycle Inventory
LME London Metal Exchange
SX-EW solvent extraction/electrowinning process
iv
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................................ ii
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................................. iii
List of Acronyms .............................................................................................................................................. iv
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Goals of the Commodity Chain Sustainability Analysis ................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Chinese Copper Market ........................................................................................................................................................ 2
2.0 General Approach / Life Cycle Assessment Method .......................................................................... 6

2.1 General Approach ................................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 LCA Method .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.2.1 ISO 14040 and Chinese LCA Standards .................................................................................................................... 7
2.2.2 Supporting Modelling Tools ........................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2.3 Inventory Analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2.4 Impact Assessment Method ............................................................................................................................................ 9
3.0 Life Cycle Assessment of Chinese Copper Production ..................................................................... 12

3.1 Goal and Scope Definition ................................................................................................................................................ 12
3.1.1 Functional Unit ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
3.1.2 System Characterization .............................................................................................................................................. 12
3.1.3 System Borders............................................................................................................................................................. 14
3.1.4 Allocation .................................................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2 Inventory Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2.1 Chinese Mines, Smelters and Refineries ....................................................................................................................... 16
3.2.1.1 Chinese Copper Mines................................................................................................................................... 16
3.2.1.2 Chinese Copper Smelters ............................................................................................................................... 18
3.2.1.3 Chinese Copper Refineries ............................................................................................................................. 20
3.2.2 Copper Scrap Recycling in China ................................................................................................................................. 21
3.2.3 Technology Mix ........................................................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.4 Transport..................................................................................................................................................................... 25
3.3 Impact Assessment ............................................................................................................................................................. 26
3.3.1 Environmental Impacts of Production Technologies in China ....................................................................................... 26
v
3.3.1.1 Primary Production ....................................................................................................................................... 26
3.3.1.2 Primary and Secondary Production ................................................................................................................ 28
3.3.1.3 Detailed Impacts of Mining Processes ............................................................................................................ 30
3.3.2 Comparison of Environmental Impacts with Different LCIA Methods ....................................................................... 32
4.0 Conclusions and Implications for Policy Recommendations ........................................................... 36

5.0 References ................................................................................................................................................ 38
6.0 Appendix .................................................................................................................................................. 43
6.1 List of Chinese Mines, Smelters and Refineries ............................................................................................................. 43
6.2 Schematic Representation of the Consumer Mix of Copper in Europe ................................................................... 45
6.3 Detailed Environmental Impacts, Cu-Cathode Primary Production ......................................................................... 46
6.4 Contribution Analysis of Mining and Beneficiation ...................................................................................................... 47
6.5 Short Descriptions of Common Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methodologies .................................................... 47
6.5.1 Eco-Indicator 99 ......................................................................................................................................................... 47
6.5.2 CML 2001 ................................................................................................................................................................ 48
6.5.3 Ecological Scarcity 1997.............................................................................................................................................. 48
6.5.4 IPCC 2001 (Climate Change) .................................................................................................................................... 49
6.5.5 Cumulative Energy Demand ....................................................................................................................................... 50
List of Tables
Table 3.1 Overview of Cu-cathode consumption and production in China from 2000–2009.
Assumed production shares of five production routes used in this study shown in last
column. ......................................................................................................................................13
Table 3.2 Coverage of mines, smelters and refineries investigated in this study as percentage of
the entire Chinese production. Reported industry data in ktons of copper content in
the output of each process (mines->concentrate; smelter->anodes, refineries
->cathodes). ..............................................................................................................................17
Table 3.3 Chinese mines included in this study. ...................................................................................17
Table 3.4 Average ore grade and content of co-produced metals......................................................18
Table 3.5 Chinese smelters. ......................................................................................................................19
Table 3.6 Worldwide use of particular smelting technologies and the corresponding use in China
in 2008 (of this sample). ..........................................................................................................20
vi
Table 3.7 Chinese refineries. ....................................................................................................................21
Table 3.8 Primary and secondary Cu-cathode production in China between 2000 and 2014 (unit:
Cu-kt/%). ..................................................................................................................................22
Table 3.9 Analysis of old scrap generation in China from 2010 to 2015 (unit: kt-Cu). ..................23
Table 3.10 Share of each process contributing to the functional unit 1kg Cu-cathode. ...................24
Table 3.11 Origin of Cu-concentrate, secondary copper and Cu-cathodes, average transport
distances and the ton-kilometres used in this assessment. .................................................26
Table 3.12 Main contribution to the environmental impact of mining and beneficiation (global
mix) of individual substances or processes; results are shown ranked (biggest above) in
Eco-indicator 99 points. ..........................................................................................................32
Table 6.1 List of mines included in the calculation. .............................................................................43
Table 6.2 List of smelters included in the calculation. .........................................................................44
Table 6.3 List of refineries included in the calculation. .......................................................................44
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Global copper mine production, smelter production and refinery production in 2005.
Values are given in million tons of copper in output material. Share of the refinery
production of different countries in percentiles (pie chart). ................................................ 3
Figure 1.2 Chinese capacities of copper mines, smelters and refineries. .............................................. 4
Figure 1.3 Chinese Copper consumption (historical data and forecast) and Chinese copper
production. .................................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 2.1 Overview of processes considered in this study. The colour code highlights which data
were collected specifically for this study, which were collected from literature sources,
and which were available at the ecoinvent database. ............................................................ 7
Figure 2.2 The different steps of a Life Cycle Assessment study according to the ISO technical
standard 14040............................................................................................................................ 8
Figure 2.3 General representation of the methodology. The white boxes refer to intermediate
results; the coloured boxes refer to procedures (for more, see http://www.pre.nl/eco-
indicator99/eco-indicator_99_introduction.htm). ..............................................................11
vii
Figure 3.1 Schematic representation of the production routes of one kilogram of Cu-cathode
investigated in this study. CN = China; GLO = global. ....................................................14
Figure 3.2 Copper prices. LME = London Metal Exchange. ..............................................................15
Figure 3.3 Generic input-output chart for primary and secondary copper smelting. .......................25
Figure 3.4 Environmental impacts in Eco-indicator 99 points for all primary producing
technologies and averaged for different global regions. The results show the impacts of
each technology producing 1kg Cu-cathode with primary production............................27
Figure 3.5 Impacts of each of the five process steps for each technology, primary and secondary
production. ................................................................................................................................29
Figure 3.6 Relative impacts of each of the five process steps for each technology, primary and
secondary production. .............................................................................................................29
Figure 3.7 Environmental impacts in Eco-indicator 99 points for mining processes including
beneficiation. The results are shown in details and, at the same time, grouped
according to the impact categories Human Health (orange), Ecosystem Quality (blue)
and Resource Depletion (grey)...............................................................................................31
Figure 3.8 Comparison of Chinese and European LCIA results with the four different impact
evaluation methods. From the CLM evaluation methods, the two indicators ―Abiotic
depletion‖ and ―Acidification potential‖ were used. Impacts from both primary and
secondary production are included........................................................................................33
Figure 3.9 Comparison of the LCIA results for each technology or process contribution to the
production of 1kg Cu-cathode in China. Transports, secondary and primary
production are shown, both in China and Europe. The sum of the production/process
mix for China is compared to the European average. For comparability, all results are
normalized on the European average. ..................................................................................35
Figure 6.1 Schematic representation of the consumer mix of copper in Europe in ecoinvent. As a
proxy for Europe, the consumption pattern for Germany in 1994 is chosen. ...............45
Figure 6.2 Environmental impacts in detailed impact categories in Eco-indicator 99 points. The
results show the impacts of each technology producing 1kg Cu-cathode with primary
production. ................................................................................................................................46
Figure 6.3 Contribution analysis of mining and beneficiation processes in the Asia and Pacific
regions........................................................................................................................................47
viii
1.0 Introduction
Within the project ―China and Global Markets: Copper Supply Chain Sustainable Development‖
(CSCSD), the environmental impacts of Chinese copper production are evaluated by a Life Cycle
Impact Assessment (LCIA). This report summarizes the methodology, documents the data
collection and compilation of a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), and presents the results of the Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA). The overall goal of the CSCSD is to produce a set of recommendations to
ensure long-term sustainability of the global copper supply chains.
China suffers from a lack of natural deposits of copper, despite its richness in other base or special
metals. For some years, the growing demand of copper in China has not been met by Chinese
primary production. Both the national consumption of copper and the demand of copper in the
manufacturing industries have shown strong increases over the last decades.
In 2006 China was the worldwide second biggest importer of copper ores and concentrates (after
Japan), and the third biggest importer of refined copper (after the United States and Germany). Half
products or semis (sheets, strips, bars, tubes, rods, coils, foils and so forth) or finished products
(sectors such as power infrastructure, consumer appliances, building and construction materials, and
automotive and transport materials) are produced, to a large extent, in China. Also in 2006, China
ranked number one worldwide as importer of semi-fabricated copper products and number two
worldwide as exporter of such products, after Germany (Atherton, 2009).
Due to the above mentioned reasons, China is a net importer of copper. Imported are an entire
range of materials (ore, concentrates), substances (refined copper), half products and, increasingly,
copper-containing waste material (copper scrap, automotive scrap or waste electrical and electronic
equipment). China is today an important part of the global value chain of copper-containing
products. At the same time, it depends strongly on the supply of copper ore, concentrates or refined
copper from abroad.
In order to strategically plan and improve the copper supply, the environmental impacts of each
production step are analyzed. Particularly, the use of energy, emission of greenhouse gases, and
water use are considered.
1.1 Goals of the Commodity Chain Sustainability Analysis

The goal of the entire project was formulated in the International Institute for Sustainable
Development’s document, ―China and Global Copper Markets: A Framework for Global
Commodity Chain Sustainability Analysis‖:
1
The research project seeks to produce a set of recommendations on ways in which
[Ministry of Commerce and Trade] MOFCOM and other branches of the Chinese
government can work to ensure the long-term sustainability of its global copper
supply chains. Given the strong role of global markets in determining the
sustainability of supply chains, the project places significant emphasis on trade and
market relationships in determining the most effective means to attaining the desired
outcomes—hence the application of the Global Commodity Chain Sustainability
Analysis. The purpose of the research is to provide a robust and practical set of
recommendations for building global supply chain and trade sustainability. A key
objective of the China and Global Markets project is its emphasis on seeking shared
solutions—namely, solutions that involve coordination and cooperation with foreign
governments and international supply chain actors—as a reflection of the shared
responsibility that exists for global trade and supply chains.
In Section 2.0 of this paper, the general approach and the LCA methodology is introduced. Section
3.0 consists of the detailed results of the LCA, including the definitions of goal and scope, inventory
analysis, impact assessment and interpretation, along with key environmental impacts. This is
followed by interpretation and discussion of the results in Section 4.0. The consequences of the
LCA, with respect to the formulation of policy recommendations, are included in Section 4.0.
1.2 Chinese Copper Market

China does not play as much of an important role when it comes to mining copper ores as, for
example, Chile—by far the world leader in mining—and countries such as the United States,
Indonesia, Peru and Australia. In contrast, for copper refineries and even more so for smelters,
China is one of the leading nations in terms of annual production (see Figure 1.1).
This situation has to do with recent developments in the Chinese copper market. Since 2000 the
capacities for smelters and refineries have increased substantially. At the same time, the mine
capacities increased, albeit not at the same rate as smelters and refineries (see Figure 1.2). The large
gap between the capacities and the actual extraction of copper ore in China is compensated by large
trade volumes (net imports) of copper concentrates, copper matte, refined copper or half products.
2
Figure 1.1 Global copper mine production, smelter production and refinery production in 2005. Values are
given in million tons of copper in output material. Share of the refinery production of different countries in
percentiles (pie chart).
6
3% 3%
3% Peru
Mine 3%
26%
3%
Canada
5 Smelter India
4%
Korea, Republic of
Refinery
6%
Poland
4 Germany
[ 106 Metric tons ]
Russia
8% United States
3 Japan
17%
China
8%
Chile
2 Others (< 500'000 t/a)
16%
0
Mexico
Peru
India
Russia
Australia
Brazil
Zambia
Germany
Others (< 200'000 t/a)

Canada
Chile
China
Japan
Spain
Sweden
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
United States
Bulgaria
Poland
Belgium
Korea, Republic of
Philippines
Source of data: United States Geological Survey (USGS), 2005; source of illustration: Eugster, 2008.
3
Figure 1.2 Chinese capacities of copper mines, smelters and refineries.
5000
4500 Refineries
Capacities
(inc. SX-EW)
Capacities in thousand metric tons
4000
2009
3500
3000
Smelter
Capacities
2500
2009
2000
1500
Mine
1000 Capacities
2009
500
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Source: International Copper Study Group (ICSG), 2009.
Copper is imported into China in all different forms. This can be seen by comparing the Chinese
copper consumption and the Chinese copper production shown in Figure 1.3. The national
production does not meet the national demand. Therefore, large imports of semis and half products
(e.g., for the building sector) and components (e.g., for the electronic sector) occur. It is forecasted
that until 2014, this tendency will be accentuated (see Figure 1.3). The re-export of copper,
contained in finished products, is represented by the annual gap between national production and
consumption.
4
Figure 1.3 Chinese Copper consumption (historical data and forecast) and Chinese copper production.
9000
8500 Total Chinese Cu
consumption
8000
7500
Copper refined
7000 consumption (Brook
6500 Hunt 2009)
6000
Chinese Cu-
5500 cathode
consumption
1000 tons
5000
4500 Net semis import
4000
3500
3000 Total Chinese Cu-
2500 cathode production
2000
1500 Chinese Cu
production from
1000 scrap
500
Chinese Cu
0
production from
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014 concentrates
Source: Beijing General Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (BGRIMM), 2009a; BGRIMM, 2009b; Brook
Hunt, 2009.
5
2.0 General Approach / Life Cycle Assessment Method
2.1 General Approach

The key objective of the environmental assessment of Chinese copper production is to assess the
global environmental impacts of copper production, as well as the relative importance of specific
stages over the supply chain. Therefore, the key question is: What are the main environmental
impacts from the production chain of copper in China?
In order to assess the environmental impacts, a compilation of an LCI of Chinese copper

production had to be established. Combining these specific LCI datasets with existing datasets of
the ecoinvent database, Version 2.01 (ecoinvent, 2007), allowed an LCIA of a specific functional
unit.
Because Chinese copper production is highly connected to a world market of ores, concentrates,
scrap, electrolyte copper or half products, international and national production paths had to be
considered. Figure 2.1 gives an overview of the processes that were decided upon by a first expert
group meeting, to be included in this study. The colours highlight the origin of their data. Blue
processes were assessed specifically for this study; data of orange processes were taken from
literature sources. The grey area indicates all processes represented in the ecoinvent database.
6
Figure 2.1 Overview of processes considered in this study. The colour code highlights which data were
collected specifically for this study, which were collected from literature sources, and which were available
at the ecoinvent database.
D omestic I nternational
Production
M ining Scrap M ining Scrap

Collection Collection
Processing
B enef iciation B enef iciation

Scrap Scrap
Smelting Processing Smelting Processing
Ref ining Ref ining
Manufacturing
M anuf acturing M anuf acturing
Distribution
Processes excluded
W holesalers
from the W holesalers
China Copper
Retailers Retailers
Supply Chain
Consumption
Analysis
Consumption Consumption
W aste Recycling W aste Recycling
Specif ic new data A dapted literature data D ata f rom the Sw iss data base ‘ ecoinvent’
2.2 LCA Method

2.2.1 ISO 14040 and Chinese LCA Standards
The environmental impacts of the product chain of copper production in China are quantified and
interpreted using LCA methodology; according to the international standard ISO 14040 (ISO 14040,
1997; ISO 14040, 2006), the basic principle of this method, the following steps can be distinguished:
1. Defining the goal and scope of the study (step ―A‖ in Figure 2.2);
2. Making a model of the product life cycle with all environmentally relevant inflows and
7
outflows. This data collection effort is usually referred to as the LCI phase (step ―B‖ in
Figure 2.2);
3. Understanding the environmental relevance of all inflows and outflows; this is referred to as
the LCIA phase (step ―C‖ in Figure 2.2); and
4. Interpreting the results of the study (step ―D‖ in Figure 2.2).
The priority and logical relation among the stages are showed in the following chart. Figure 2.2
shows how these different steps are linked together and emphasizes the iterative characteristic of the
LCA approach.
In China, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) drafted and issued national
standards for LCA in line with the ISO standard system, ISO/EN 14042 (2000):
 GB/T 24040-1999, identical to ISO 14040 (1997): Environmental Management—Life Cycle

Assessment—Principles and Framework (SEPA, 1999);
 GB/T 24041-2000, identical to ISO 14040 (1997) (ISO 14040, 1997): Environmental
Management—Life Cycle Assessment—Goal and Scope Definition and Inventory Analysis
(SEPA, 2000);
Assessment—Life Cycle Impact Assessment (SEPA, 2002); and
Assessment—Interpretation (SEPA, 2003).
Figure 2.2 The different steps of a Life Cycle Assessment study according to the ISO technical standard 14040.
Goal and scope definition

Elements according to EN
(ISO 14041) A ISO 14040, 2006
Direct application:
Inventory analysis Interpretation →Development and improvement
(ISO 14041) B (ISO 14043) of products
→Strategic planning
→Political decision making
→Marketing
Impact assessment D →others
(ISO 14042) C
8
2.2.2 Supporting Modelling Tools
Within this study, the LCI and the LCIA analyses are carried out using the LCA software system
SIMAPRO, Version 7.1, with the ecoinvent data, Version 2.01 (PRé Consultants, 1999).
2.2.3 Inventory Analysis

In the inventory phase, a model is made of the complex technical system that is used to mine and
concentrate copper ore, reduce copper concentrate in a smelting process and refine copper in an
electrolytic process. In addition, the processes of smelting and refining copper from scrap material
are investigated. Thereby, for each process, all the relevant inflows and outflows are collected. New
data are partly gathered in China within the scope of this project, or existing datasets from an
inventory database are adapted or used directly. Details of the procedure can be found in Section
3.1, ―Goal and Scope Definition.‖
2.2.4 Impact Assessment Method

An impact assessment method, the Eco-indicator 99, Hierarchist version (Goedkoop and
Spriensma, 2000) is used here. In this method, the impact analysis categories analyzed are climate
change (or global warming), resource consumption (including minerals and fossil fuels), respiratory
effects, acidification and eutrophication, land use, carcinogens and ecotoxicity. Within this
methodology, these categories are associated with three types of environmental damages:
1. Human Health (unit: DALY= Disability Adjusted Life Years; this means different disabilities
caused by diseases are weighted);
2. Ecosystem Quality (unit: PDF*m2*a; PDF= Potentially Disappeared Fraction of plant species);
and
3. Resources (unit: MJ surplus energy; additional energy requirement to compensate lower future
ore grade).
Normalization and weighting are performed at this damage category level (end-point level in ISO
terminology). Figure 2.3 shows an overview of these various steps within the Eco-indicator 99
method.
The whole method is an example for the damage-oriented approach, referring to European
conditions. But the proceedings that were introduced above allow for establishment of a technology
mix that is tailor-made for the present Chinese copper production. Nonetheless, there is no specific
LCIA method for China available; this method is used in this study.
9
In the sense of a sensitivity analysis of this chosen method, the main calculations also have been
made with further, commonly used methods (i.e., CML’01; UBP’97; Cumulative Energy Demand, or
CED; and Global Warming Potential, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
or IPCC). Brief descriptions of each evaluation method can be found in Section 6.5, ―Short
Descriptions of Common Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methodologies.‖ Because these further
methods don’t end up in significantly different results, the report here shows, for the majority of the
examined aspects, the results only with the Eco-indicator 99. The sensitivity of the other calculations
is discussed in Section 3.3.2, ―Comparison of Environmental Impacts with Different LCIA
Methods.‖
The methodological procedure follows the pattern of a similar study on key environmental impacts
of the Chinese electronic industry, conducted in 2007. Therefore, parts of Section 2.0 on the LCA
methodology were taken from Hischier et al., 2007). Where it became necessary, the text was
updated and adapted.
10
Figure 2.3 General representation of the methodology. The white boxes refer to intermediate results; the
coloured boxes refer to procedures (for more, see http://www.pre.nl/eco-indicator99/eco-
indicator_99_introduction.htm).
Damage to Surplus energy for future

Concentration minerals Extraction of
mineral and extraction
fossil resources minerals and
Surplus energy for future Fossil fuel availability fossil fuels
[ MJ Surplus
extraction ( per type )
energy ]
Regional effect on Land use :

vascular plant species Change in habitat size Occupation and
transformation
Damage to Local effect on vascular
ecosystem plant species
quality [%
Acid /eutr . ( occurrence Changed pH and
Indicator vasc . plant
target species ) nutrient avail .
species ―km 2 ‖ NOx
yr] Ecotoxicity : toxic stress Concentr . Urban .
SOx
(PAF ) Agri . Nat . soil
NH3
Climate change (diseases Concentration Pesticides
and displacem .) greenh . gases Heavy metals
Damage to Ozone layer depl . ( cancer Concentration ozone
human health and cataract ) depl . gases CO2
[ disability HCFC
Ioniz . Radiation ( cancer Concentration Nuclides (Bp )
adjusted life
cases and type ) radionuclides
years (daily )] SPM
Respiratory effects ( cases Concentration SPM VOCs
and type ) and VOCs PAHs
Carcinogenesis ( cancer Concentration in air .
cases and type ) water . food
Resource analysis
Normalization Exposure and
Damage analysis Land - use analysis
and weighting effect analysis
Fate analysis
11
3.0 Life Cycle Assessment of Chinese Copper Production
3.1 Goal and Scope Definition

The overall goal of the study is to evaluate the environmental impacts of mining, concentrating,
smelting and refining of copper from primary sources and collecting, smelting and refining of
copper from secondary sources in China. Methodologically, this is done by conducting an LCA of
Chinese copper production. More specifically, the method allows analysis of the main causes of the
environmental impacts and, hence, allows policy-makers to deduce measures for improving the
Chinese copper supply chain. The study is not an LCA in its strict sense, as some of the
consumption processes of copper bearing products are excluded from this study. Therefore, this
LCA is a ―cradle to gate‖ rather than a ―cradle to grave‖ study (see also Figure 2.1).
3.1.1 Functional Unit

The functional unit is one kilogram of copper cathode (―Cu-cathode‖) at regional storage in China.
This Cu-cathode is electro-refined copper, at least equal or higher than the ―grade A‖ quality
standard of the London Metal Exchange. ―Grade A‖ means copper of 99.99 per cent purity. Each
step of the production chain has correspondingly one kilogram of output product as a functional
unit (e.g., ―Cu-concentrate‖ or ―Cu-anode‖).
3.1.2 System Characterization

In the used Version 2.01 of the ecoinvent database, the coupled production of copper concentrate
and molybdenite concentrate are inventoried for the regions Europe, Asia and Pacific, Latin
America and the Caribbean, North America, and Indonesia, as well as globally. The region-specific
data mainly acknowledges differences in ore quality or electricity supply mix but do not differentiate
in differences of the technologies used in specific regions.
For China, no specific datasets for mines, smelters and refineries in China are yet available. In
contrast to the existing datasets in ecoinvent, this study particularly focused on the existing
technology park as well as the potential for technological improvement. Therefore, it became
necessary to focus on the specific mix of technology for copper mining, smelting, refining and
recycling processes prevailing in China. The following approach was chosen:
1. Samples of mining, smelting, refining and recycling enterprises were collected. A specific
―Chinese copper producing technology mix‖ was established.
12
2. A ―generic life cycle dataset‖ of copper mining, smelting, refining and recycling processes
was created.
3. A generic flow chart of one kilogram of Cu-cathode produced in China was created. A
sketch of this can be seen in Figure 3.1, highlighting the individual inputs from following
production routes:
 Cu-cathode produced in China from primary resources;
 Cu-cathode produced globally from primary resources, imported to China;
 Cu-cathode produced in China from secondary resources; and
 Cu-cathode produced in China with imported concentrates.
4. By combining the ―Chinese copper producing technology mix‖ with the ―generic life cycle
dataset,‖ the specific resource consumption and environmental emissions of the functional
unit were calculated.
5. Lastly, the environmental impacts were evaluated and interpreted.
The share of each production route to one kilogram of Cu-cathode produced in China can be found
in Table 3.1. These numbers were used to calculate the environmental impacts of the functional unit.
Because the production of Chinese Cu-concentrates over the last four years (see Table 3.8, lines 3
and 4) was not higher than 30 per cent of the entire Chinese Cu-cathode production in the same
years (see Table 3.1), it was assumed that one-third of the Chinese Cu-cathode production originates
from Chinese concentrates and two-thirds from imported concentrates. This explains the numbers
of 22.9 per cent for concentrates from China and 45.8 per cent for concentrates from imports in
Figure 3.1.
The specific technology mix for primary produced Cu-cathodes in China, the mix of secondary
resources in China and the allocation values are explained below in Section 3.2, ―Inventory
Analysis.‖
Table 3.1 Overview of Cu-cathode consumption and production in China from 2000–2009. Assumed
production shares of five production routes used in this study shown in last column.
Average used in
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Average
this study
Chinese Cu-cathode consumption 1944 2242 2544 3109 3350 3815 3967 4600 5100 6273
Chinese Cu-cathode production 1371 1523 1633 1836 2199 2600 3003 3499 3795 4110
% of entire Chinese Cu-cathode consumption 71% 68% 64% 59% 66% 68% 76% 76% 74% 66% 68.7%
% of Cu-cathode production from Chinese ore 22.9%
% of Cu-cathode production from 'global' ore 45.8%
China’s Secondary refinery production 348 307 380 426 620 744 999 1050 1139 1060
% of entire Chinese Cu-cathode consumption 18% 14% 15% 14% 19% 20% 25% 23% 22% 17% 18.55%
% of Cu-cathode from promt scrap 9.3%
% of Cu-cathode from promt scrap 9.3%
Imports of Cu-cathodes 225 412 531 847 531 471 -35 51 166 1104
% of entire Chinese Cu-cathode consumption 12% 18% 21% 27% 16% 12% -1% 1% 3% 18% 12.73% 12.7%
Source: BGRIMM, 2009a; BGRIMM, 2009b; Brook Hunt, 2009.
13
Figure 3.1 Schematic representation of the production routes of one kilogram of Cu-cathode investigated in
this study. CN = China; GLO = global.
copper,
copper, Cu-cathode,
concentrate, at Cu-cathode, primary, at
e e primary, at e primary, at
beneficiation, refinery A, CN
smelter A, CN refinery A, CN
CN
Exploitation copper-ore, CN
copper,
copper, Cu-cathode, 22.9%
e e primary, at e primary, at (as sum of
beneficiation, refinery B, CN
smelter B, CN refinery B, CN A,B,C)
CN
copper,
copper, Cu-cathode,
e e primary, at e primary, at
beneficiation, refinery C, CN
smelter B, CN refinery B, CN
CN
Couple-
products Cu
Exploitation copper-
Couple-
products Cu
ore, GLO
copper,
copper, copper,
e e primary, at e primary, at 12.7%
beneficiation, refinery, GLO
smelter, GLO refinery, GLO
GLO
Cu-cathode at regional storage, 9.3%

Cu-cathode, secondary, at
refinery, CN
Copper scrap, from
collection point
copper, copper,
Cu-cathode, secondary, at
secondary, at e secondary, at 9.3% refinery, CN
CN
copper, Cu-cathode,
Cu-cathode, primary
e primary, at e primary, at
Transportation to CN
imported, at refinery A, CN
copper, copper, Cu-cathode, 45.8% Cu-cathode, primary

concentrate, at e e primary, at e primary, at (as sum of imported, at refinery B, CN
beneficiation, GLO smelter B, CN refinery B, CN A,B,C)
copper, Cu-cathode,
Cu-cathode, primary
e primary, at e primary, at
imported, at refinery C, CN
smelter B, CN refinery B, CN
Figure 6.1 in the Appendix shows the schematic representation of the copper datasets in the
ecoinvent database, in comparison to Figure 3.1 (Classen et al., 2009). It can be seen that this study’s
emphasis lies upon different technologies within China.
3.1.3 System Borders

The geographic system border is the People’s Republic of China.
14
3.1.4 Allocation
Because several metals are co-products of copper mining activities, an allocation of the
environmental burden is necessary. Due to the large diversity of metals contained in copper ore, the
impacts are allocated according to the market value of the metal. In this study, only gold and silver
are considered by-products. The details of the allocation values are discussed in Section 0,―Chinese
Copper Mines.‖ This procedure is also applied in the ecoinvent Version 2.01. In reverse, copper is
also produced as a by-product from mining of other metals. But due to the budgetary and time
constraints of this study, this supply path was not accounted for.
3.2 Inventory Analysis

High copper prices between 2006 and 2008 (see Figure 3.3) have boosted the technological
renovation of the copper smelting and refining sector. But many of the inventory data have been
collected before this time. More specific, up-to-date technology or country data are not yet available.
Therefore, some emission data dating before this period should be considered as upper limit.
Figure 3.2 Copper prices. LME = London Metal Exchange.
LME COPPER PRICE (Cash)

9'000
8'000
7'000
6'000
US$/ton
5'000
4'000
3'000
2'000
1'000
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
LME average LME highs LME lows Linear (LME average)
Source: ICSG, 2007.
When reading the inventory data and the results, one has also to consider that many industry data
are reported as ―given values‖ of the manufactures of smelters or other machinery. Actually
measured input and output data are ―reported industry data,‖ which generally are collected by
national metals association or by ministries. Such ―reported industry data‖ can deviate from ―given
15
values‖ considerably, depending on factors such as maintenance, actual processing hours, feed
material and others. The data on mines and smelters and refineries are ―reported industry data‖ and
have been collected by the Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metals (BGRIMM).
Data on smelting technologies were provided by the German Copper Institute (Deutsches
Kupferinstitut, or DKI) and several literature resources. DKI data are ―reported industry data‖ from
the year 2000. They are only net input–output data and do not account for reverse flows of slag,
filter ashes, dusts, sludge, sweepings and other production waste of individual processing steps.
3.2.1 Chinese Mines, Smelters and Refineries

The samples of mines, smelters and refineries investigated in this study cover different shares of the
total Chinese production. Table 3.2 lists the actual production volumes for each production cluster
(mining, smelting, refining) over four consecutive years. The share is calculated as a percentage of
entire Chinese production and ranges, for mines, between 32 and 36 per cent; for smelters, between
80 and 82 per cent; and for refineries, between 67 and 70 per cent.
3.2.1.1 Chinese Copper Mines

In China, most copper mines employ underground mining, accounting for 70–80 per cent of copper
minerals mined. Only seven mines operate open-pit mining, accounting for 10–20 per cent of mined
minerals, and about 2 per cent of minerals are processed with in-situ leaching (solvent
extraction/electrowinning process, or SX–EW) (BGRIMM, 2010). Dexing copper mine is the
biggest mine and, at the same time, also the biggest open-pit mine in China (see Table 3.3).
In contrast, worldwide 65 per cent of the copper minerals are mined open-pit, whereas the smaller
portion is mined underground. The world average of 10 per cent in-situ leaching (SX–EW) is higher
than the corresponding usage of this technology in China (Krauss, 1999).
Table 3.3 lists the mines included in this analysis. They account for 32–36 per cent of the total
Chinese copper mineral production. The capacities are shown for 2008, the actual production for
four consecutive years (2006–2009). Also, the specification of type of mine, quality of ore and
average copper content in dry ore is given.
The average ore grade of the investigated mines is slightly higher than the range published for all of
China (average for 2006–2008: 0.85 per cent of copper in dry ore; source: China Non-Ferrous Metal
Industry statistics). For this study, an average ore grade of the sampled mines with 0.90 per cent of
copper in dry ore was used.
16
Table 3.2 Coverage of mines, smelters and refineries investigated in this study as percentage of the entire
Chinese production. Reported industry data in ktons of copper content in the output of each process (mines
->concentrate; smelter->anodes, refineries->cathodes).
2009
2006 2007 2008
(estimates)
Mines production (this study)* 305 330 348 346
Mines production (entire China)** 873 928 1076 961
% entire China 35% 36% 32% 36%
Smelter production (this study)* 1563 1684 1966 2250
Smelters production (entire China)** 1918 2112 2453 2739
% entire China 82% 80% 80% 82%
Refinery production (this study)* 2022 2386 2660 2860
Refinery production (entire China)** 3003 3499 3795 4110
% entire China 67% 68% 70% 70%
Source for this study: BGRIMM, 2010; source for entire China: ICSG, 2009; BGRIMM, 2010.
Table 3.3 Chinese mines included in this study.
Mine capacities and actual Main output Actual production Production in kt- Average copper content
Mining capacities Type of mine operation Quality of ore
production material Cu metal/year in ore
Open- SX-EW
Under- Non Minimal Maximal
2008 2006 2007 2008 2009 (e) cut In-situ Sulfidic
ground sulfidic value value
mining leaching
Dexing Concentrates 100ktpd 107 113 116 125 x x 0.38 0.51
Yongping Concentrates 10ktpd 19 19 20 20 x x x 0.69 0.71
Huogeqi Concentrates 7kpd 21 20 22 19 x x 1.20 1.61
Dongguashan Concentrates 10kpd 15 22 28 32 x x 1.09 1.20
Tongkuangyu Copper mine Concentrates 20kpd 20 20 20 x x 0.49 0.58
Ashele Concentrates 4ktd 30 28 29 30 x x 0.24 0.26
Dahongshan Concentrates 15ktpd 21 27 33 35 x x
Lala Copper Concentrates 15ktpd 20 27 26 30 x x 0.66 0.76
Chengmenshan Concentrates 2ktpd 6 6 6 6 x x 0.74 0.82
Wunuketushan Mine Concentrates 30ktpd (started production end of 2009 x x 0.42 0.56
Daye Tonglushan Copper
Concentrates 4ktpd 9 10 10 10 x x 1.41 1.78
mine
Dexing SX-EW plants Cathode 2ktpa 2 2 2 2 x x
Anqing Copper Mine Concentrates 3.5ktpd 8 9 9 10 x 1.05 1.05
Dongchuan Concentrates 7.5ktpd 20 20 20 20 x x 0.81 1.29
Hongtoushan Copper Mine Concentrates 2ktpd 8 8 8 8 x x 1.5 1.7
Sum 305 330 348 346 0.82 0.99
% of entire China 35% 36% 32% 36%
2006 2007 2008 2009
Entire China 107300 ktpa 873 928 1076 961 70~80%
SX-EW production kt 16.1 18.1 16.6 18.9
Source: BGRIMM, 2010.
All mines investigated in this study recover reagents, process water and have dammed lakes for
tailings and slag. But only 27 per cent (in terms of number) or 53 per cent (in terms of production
volume) of the mines have invested in the ecological rehabilitation of the land transformed during
their mining activities. Details of the mine survey data can be found in the Appendix (Table 6.1).
Gold and silver were considered as co-produced metals with the average concentrations given in
17
Table 3.4. Both co-produced metals are separated in the anode slime of the final processing step—
the electrowinning process. The environmental impacts of all production steps until the
electrowinning process are therefore allocated according to the factors given in Table 3.4. The
market values are average prices for the pure metals for the years 2004–2006 according to the
London Metal Exchange. This period was taken as reference years, in order to be consistent with
data used in ecoinvent 2.01 for the global average of mining products. In other words, only 38 per
cent of the environmental impacts of winning copper from Chinese mines are allocated to copper
itself; 41 per cent of the impacts are burdened onto gold and 21 per cent onto silver.
3.2.1.2 Chinese Copper Smelters

Chinese smelters focus either on primary or on secondary input materials; mixing of inputs is not
very common (BGRIMM, 2010). Table 3.5 lists the 15 major smelters (in production volume) in
China that were investigated in this study. Because this sample covers more than 80 per cent (of
production volume) of all copper smelters in China, the smelter mix of the sample was taken as an
approximation of the average Chinese smelters mix.
Table 3.4 Average ore grade and content of co-produced metals.
Average Average Average assumed

Average value Average value in
(% Cu) (% Cu) for allocation Allocation factor
($/kilogram) ore
min max (gram/ton)
Cooper 0.82 0.99 900.00 4.475 4028 38%
Gold 0.286 15624 4461 41%
Silver 8.074 273.6 2209 21%
Source: BGRIMM, 2010; China Non-Ferrous Metal Industry statistics.
18
Table 3.5 Chinese smelters.
Smelter capacities and actual Process applied Capacities Actual productionin ktons/year
production
2008 2006 2007 2008 2009 (e)
Guixi (smelter) Old flash smelting-converter-andoe refining 300 300 300 300 300
New Flash smelting-converter-andoe refining (since 2007) 200 29 177 146
Jinchuan (smelter) Composite smelting-converter-anode 350 258 314 290 380
Yunnan Copper Isasmelting-converter-anode furnace 200 186 208 192 210
Jinlong (Tongdu) Flash Smelting-converter-anode 350 209 250 280 330
Daye/ Hubei Noranda smelting- converter-anode refining 120 120 120 120 120
Reverberatory-converter-anode, to be phased out in 2010 50 30 52 44 62
Shandong Fengxiang (smelter) Outokumpu Flash smelting-flash convertering-anode furance 200 110 178
Jinchang (Tongling II) Ausmelt smelting-converter-anode 180 150 150 150 180
Blast smelting-converter-anode, stopped in 2009, Ausmelt
Huludao 120 49 34 15 0
smelter under construction
Baiyin (smelter) Baiyin furnace (similar to Noranda)-converter-anode refining 100 78 78 81 82
Jinfeng furnace (similar to Vanukov furnace)-converter-anode
Jinfeng 100 26 0 36 75
refining
Kangxi (Liangshan) Blast Furnace, might stop production soon 35 20 27 22 25
Yantai Penghui Side blowing bath smelting-converter-anode refininig 60 49 30 33 35
Blast Furnace-converter-anode refining, might stop
Fuchunjiang 80 36 34 35 35
production in 2010/2011
Zhongtiaoshan (Houma) Ausmelt smelting-Ausmelt converting -anode refining 70 53 56 56 62
Feishang SKS smelting (bottom blowing)-converter-anode refining 60 25 30
Sum 2'575 1563 1684 1966 2250
% of entire China 93% 82% 80% 80% 82%
Entire China 2778.5 1918 2112 2453 2739
The smelters covered in this study are all equipped with environmental technology, which is up to
date. For air emissions coolers, fabric filters, hot electrostatic precipitators and cyclones are installed.
Sulphuric acid plants recover emission of sulphur dioxide (SO2) from smelting but as well from the
conversion process, which is often linked to a smelter. Only older installations are lacking wet or
semi-dry scrubbers of the off gases. Details of the survey data can be found in the Appendix (Table
6.2).
When comparing the Chinese smelter mix used in this study with the world average, one can see that
China has advanced considerably in the renovation of its smelter park. The world average use of
smelter installed and the corresponding Cu-blister production are listed in Table 3.6. The Chinese
average use of a particular technology in 2008 is shown in the last column. The low percentage of
Reverberatory furnaces used in China compared to their use in the world shows that the phase-out
of this technology is successful. Both the composite smelter technology and the SKS process can be
considered as ―state-of-the-art‖ technologies, the latter being an invention from China utilizing
oxidizing processes in the bottom blowing furnace and reducing smelting in the blast furnace.
19
Table 3.6 Worldwide use of particular smelting technologies and the corresponding use in China in 2008 (of
this sample).
Number of smelters Average use of
Number of Blister production % of total blister
using that technology technology in 2008
furnaces (World) 1998 '000 t/yr (World) production (World)
(World) (China, this sample)
Outokumpu flash smelting 26 26 3801 35% 36%
Outokumpu flash smelting, direct blister 2 2 238 2%
Reverberatory 27 37 1604 15% 2%
El Teniente reactor 7 12 1344 12%
Ausmelt / ISA Smelt 11 13 1000 9% 28%
Elelctric furnance 6 8 560 5%
Blast furnance 14 29 548 5% 3%
Mitsubishi process 4 4 497 5%
INCO flash smelting 3 3 448 4%
Vanuykov process 3 5 448 4% 1%
Noranda reactor & other bath smelters 2 2 197 2% 10%
Controp 1 1 116 1%
Bayin process 1 1 57 1%
Kivcet 1 1 15 0%
Source: IPPC, 2009; BGRIMM, 2010.
To compare these techniques to the categories given, the composite smelter technology of the
Jinchuan Corporation was categorized as an Ausmelt smelter, and the SKS smelter of Feishang
Corporation was categorized as an Outocumpu flash smelter (Jiang, 2009).
3.2.1.3 Chinese Copper Refineries

In addition, Chinese refineries are focusing either on primary or on secondary input materials.
Mixing of inputs is not common (BGRIMM, 2010). The 15 refineries covered in this study mainly
apply startsheet refining with stainless steel cathodes (Table 3.7). They are equipped with wet or
semi-dry scrubbers to prevent acid mist emissions. No information could be obtained on the use of
renewable energy, such as electricity produced with hydropower. Details of the survey data can be
found in the Appendix (Table 6.3).
20
Table 3.7 Chinese refineries.
Refinery capacities and actual Process applied Capacities Actual productionin ktons/year
production
2008 2006 2007 2008 2009 (e)
Two ISA refineries with total capacity of 600kt/a. One
Guixi 900 444 554 702 800
startsheet refinery with capacity of 300kt/a
Jinchuan Startsheet refinery 400 200 250 284 389
Yunnan Copper ISA refinery 600 378 406 385 345
Jinlong (Tongdu) (refinery) Outokumpu stainless steel refinery 400 209 250 300 350
One ISA refinery with the capacity of 120kt/a, and the
Daye/ Hubei (refinery) 300 205 252 264 256
rest capacity is from conventional startsheet refinery
Shandong Fengxiang Outokumpu stainless steel refinery 200 110 178
Jinchang (Tongling II) (refinery) Startsheet refinery 150 150 150 150 180
Zhangjiagang Startsheet refinery 150
Huludao (refinery) Startsheet refinery 120 58 34 15 8
Jintian Startsheet refinery 120 122 135 104 60
Baiyin Startsheet refinery 100 76 71 77 85
Chifeng Startsheet refinery 100
Yantai Penghui (refinery) Startsheet refinery 120 72 103 87 85
Zhongtiaoshan (Houma) (refinery) Startsheet refinery 100 55 90 91 62
Fuchunjiang (refinery) Startsheet refinery 100 55 90 91 62

Sum 3860 2022 2386 2660 2860
% of entire China 78% 67% 68% 70% 70%
Entire China 4967 3003 3499 3795 4110
3.2.2 Copper Scrap Recycling in China

The percentage of secondary copper, contributing to the total Cu-cathode production volume in
China between the years 2000 and 2008, ranged between 20 and 33 per cent. According to the
forecast of BGRIMM, this situation will not change considerably in the near future (BGRIMM,
2009a; BGRIMM, 2009b; see Table 3.8). Therefore, an average contribution of 25 per cent of the
total Cu-cathode production from secondary copper sources was assumed. In other words, 250
grams of the functional unit of one kilogram of Cu-cathode originates from secondary copper
smelters.
21
Table 3.8 Primary and secondary Cu-cathode production in China between 2000 and 2014 (unit: Cu-kt/%).
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
estimates forecast forecast forecast forecast forecast
Chinese production of Cu-concentrate 910 930 930 980 1020 1045 1100 1145
% of total cathode production 26.0% 24.6% 23.9% 23.3% 21.7% 20.7% 21.4% 21.6%
China’s Secondary refinery production 348 307 380 426 620 744 999 1050 1139 1060 1148 1250 1350 1450 1500
% of total cathode production 25.4% 20.2% 23.3% 23.2% 28.2% 28.6% 33.3% 30.0% 30.1% 27.2% 27.2% 26.6% 26.7% 28.3% 28.2%
Rest (net-imports of copper) 1539 1710 1902 2087 2429 2663 2579 2667
% of total cathode production 44.0% 45.3% 48.9% 49.5% 51.7% 52.6% 50.3% 50.2%
Total Chinese cathode copper 1371 1523 1633 1836 2199 2600 3003 3499 3779 3892 4215 4699 5058 5129 5312
Source: BGRIMM, 2009a; BGRIMM, 2009b.
According to BGRIMM (2010), primary and secondary smelters in China are almost entirely
separated businesses. For the latter, an overcapacity of facilities was built up in the past years, which
could lead to a fierce competition over secondary copper sources in the years to come. For the LCA
study, it was assumed that secondary smelters resemble the Ausmelt/IsaSmelt technology. The
submerged lance furnace of this technology is frequently used to process secondary raw material.
Input-output of the Ausmelt/IsaSmelt technology were taken from Davenport et al., 2002 and DKI,
2010.
Based on the consumption patterns of the past, the generation of copper scrap in the future was
calculated (BGRIMM, 2009b; see Table 3.9). BGRIMM distinguishes between ―old copper scrap‖
and ―new copper scrap‖; where the former originates from sources listed as in Table 3.9, the latter is
production waste of primary copper facilities.
Old copper scrap can be of highest quality, particularly if it originates from the building, transport
and power cable infrastructure. Only by collection or physical removal of coatings, without a
refining process, can Cu-cathode qualities be achieved. Other copper scrap is of lower quality (such
as electronic scrap or scrap form primary production with lower purity) and needs to be treated in
secondary smelters or refineries. According to Rentz “…the copper content varies within a range
between 94% (granulate from cable assembly) and 1.5% (shredded iron from household appliances,
electronic scrap)” (Rentz et al., 1999). As can be seen in Table 3.9, 53 per cent of the Chinese old
copper scrap will be coming from the electric power sector, infrastructure and transport, and 47 per
cent from scrap electronics and other sources. In this study it was therefore assumed that 50 per
cent is copper scrap having Cu-cathode quality; this is called prompt scrap and is provided directly
to the ―Cu-cathode at regional storage‖ process. Another 50 per cent is copper scrap that needs to
be treated in secondary smelters and refineries. The contribution of copper scrap to the functional
unit is therefore 9.3 per cent from each secondary copper source, as shown in Figure 3.1.
22
Table 3.9 Analysis of old scrap generation in China from 2010 to 2015 (unit: kt-Cu).
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Average
forecast forecast forecast forecast forecast forecast
Electric power & construction 272 239 268 311 354 446
% Electric power & construction of total 48% 44% 42% 42% 41% 43% 43%
Transport 44 50 60 83 95 115
% Transport of total 8% 9% 9% 11% 11% 11% 10%
Home electrical applinaces 94 116 143 184 227 257
% Home electrical applinaces of total 17% 21% 22% 25% 27% 25% 23%
Others 153 143 171 167 180 228
% Others of total 27% 26% 27% 22% 21% 22% 24%
Total 563 548 642 745 856 1046
100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Source: BGRIMM, 2009b.
3.2.3 Technology Mix

Worldwide, the technology of primary copper smelters is dominated by three smelter types:
Outocumpu, Reverberatory furnaces and El Teniente Reactors. These account for more than 62 per
cent of the world copper production. In recent years the Ausmelt/IsaSmelt—being a flash smelting
technology—has shown a strong increase (Table 3.6). Outocumpu can be considered a ―state-of-
the-art‖ technology, whereas Reverberatory furnaces and Blast furnaces represent old-fashioned
technologies.
In China the main technologies used are Flash smelting (such as Outocumpu), Ausmelt/IsaSmelt
and Bath smelters (such as Noranda) (see Table 3.6). The smelters investigated in the sample were
grouped according to the type of furnace technology, as shown in Table 3.10. For each type of
furnace technology listed, specific input-output data were used to depict the resource consumption
and emissions of the individual smelting process.
Input-output data of Outocumpu, Noranda, Blast furnace, Reverberatory furnace and Vanuykov
smelters were retrieved from DKI (2010). For the Ausmelt/IsaSmelt technology, data were taken
from Davenport et al., 2002 and DKI, 2010.
For the conversion of copper matte into blister copper, average data on a standard Peirce–Smith
converter were taken as an approximation (DKI, 2010). Average data of an electric furnace for
casting the anodes and average data on an electro-refining processing plant were used to depict the
final processing steps. Conversion, anode casting and electro-refining were used uniformly for all
smelters (DKI, 2010).
The actual mix, the functional unit ―1kg Cu-cathode,‖ can be seen in Table 3.10. The share of each
technology given in Table 3.6 had to be scaled up, as only 80 per cent of the Chinese smelting
production is covered by the 15 smelters investigated in this study.
23
The other key numbers in Table 3.10 have been introduced in Section 3.2.2, ―Copper Scrap
Recycling in China‖ (for scrap collection and treatment) and in Table 3.1 of Section 3.1.2, ―System
Characterization‖ (for imports of Cu-cathodes).
In Figure 3.3, the generic process steps (inputs and outputs of primary and secondary copper
production) are shown. The list of inputs and outputs are reduced to the most relevant; also, many
internal flows, such as slag and dust recycling, are not shown.
Table 3.10 Share of each process contributing to the functional unit 1kg Cu-cathode.
Share of process to
Process or Origin Origin
functional unit
Outokumpu flash smelting 10.39% Chinese ore
Ausmelt / IsaSmelt 8.01% Chinese ore
Noranda reactor & other bath smelters 2.73% Chinese ore
Reverberatory 0.51% Chinese ore
Blast furnance 0.83% Chinese ore
Vanuykov process 0.42% Chinese ore
Cu-scrap smelted and refined 9.30% Chinese collection
Cu-scrap direct use 9.30% Chinese collection
Cu-Cathode imported 12.70% Global production and import
Outokumpu flash smelting 20.78% Global production of Cu-concentrate / Chinese smelting and refining
Ausmelt / ISA Smelt 16.03% Global production of Cu-concentrate / Chinese smelting and refining
Noranda reactor & other bath smelters 5.46% Global production of Cu-concentrate / Chinese smelting and refining
Reverberatory 1.03% Global production of Cu-concentrate / Chinese smelting and refining
Blast furnance 1.67% Global production of Cu-concentrate / Chinese smelting and refining
Vanuykov process 0.84% Global production of Cu-concentrate / Chinese smelting and refining
Sum 100% or 1kg
24
Figure 3.3 Generic input-output chart for primary and secondary copper smelting.
Primary copper production Secondary copper production

I nput Output Input Output
M inerals f rom CN
(22.9% f rom total) L ow er grade scrap from CN
(9.3% of total) A ir emission (PX D D /PX D F, V OC)
M inerals f rom GL O A ir emission (metals)
(45.8% f rom total) M ining T ransport SO 2
T ransport Fluxes Slag (as flux)
Ore 0.2- 5% Smelting/Reduction D ust
Coke
Organic chemicals Overburden Oxygen Furnace lining
L ime B enef iciation T ailings B lack copper
Cyanide W ater Oxygen A ir emission (metals, other)
W ater Slag (as flux)
Concentrate >30% A ir emission (SO 2, metals, other) A ir Converting
Scrap D ust
Oxygen Roasting /Smelting Slag (as f lux) Furnace lining
Fluxes D ust Converter copper
Furnace lining Reductant D ust
M atte >97%
A ir emission (SO 2, metals, other) A ir A node smelting Slag (as flux)
Oxygen Slag (as f lux) Clean scrap Furnace lining
A ir Converting
Scrap D ust A nodes >99%
B lister >98% Furnace lining
Electricity A cid and sulphates
Reductant D ust A cid Electro refining
A ir A node smelting Slag (as f lux) A node slime
Scrap Furnace lining
A nodes >99% H igh grade scrap from CN
Electricity A cid and sulphates (9.3% of total)
A cid Electro ref ining
A node slime Cathodes, 99.99%
(18.6% of total)
Cathodes at regional storage CN , 99.99%

(68.7% f rom total)
Adapted from Classen et al., 2009 and IPPC, 2009.
3.2.4 Transport
To include the transport of Cu-concentrates, secondary copper and Cu-cathodes in the LCA, a
rough estimation of distances was conducted. The biggest producing countries of copper ore in
2006 (USGS, 2008) were taken as approximation to estimate the share of Cu-concentrate imports to
China (the shares are given in brackets after the countries’ names). It was assumed that over-water
transport is occurring with a large ocean vessel and over-land transport with a lorry (>32 tons). The
resulting ―ton-kilometres per kg of Cu-cathode produced‖ can be seen in the last two columns of
Table 3.11. These values were used in the LCA calculation. Their meaning is, for instance: in order
to produce 1kg Cu-cathode in China, each ton of material used (mainly ore) was transported on
average 60.8 km by vessel. The analysis of transport distances and modes was not looked at more
specifically. Earlier LCA studies have shown that transport does not play a major role when it comes
to the environmental impacts of the metal producing sector.
25
Table 3.11 Origin of Cu-concentrate, secondary copper and Cu-cathodes, average transport distances and the
ton-kilometres used in this assessment.
Amount in 2008 Average transport distance

tkm tkm per kg of Cu-cathode produced
(kt/year) (km)
Vessel Lorry Vessel Lorry Vessel Lorry
China Cu-Concentrate 4304 1000 4.30E+09 0.00E+00 3.68E+00
China Secondary Cu 1139 1000 500 1.14E+09 5.70E+08 2.41E+00 1.20E+00
China Cu-Cathode 869 1000 500 8.69E+08 4.35E+08 1.70E-01 8.52E-02
Imports Cu-Concentrate (Chile, 48%) 4132 20000 500 8.26E+10 2.07E+09
Imports Cu-Concentrate (USA, 11%) 947 10000 500 9.47E+09 4.73E+08
Imports Cu-Concentrate (Peru, 9%) 775 20000 500 1.55E+10 3.87E+08
5.57E+01 1.84E+00
Imports Cu-Concentrate (Austrailia, 8%) 689 7000 500 4.82E+09 3.44E+08
Imports Cu-Concentrate (Indonesia, 7%) 603 5000 500 3.01E+09 3.01E+08
Imports Cu-Concentrate (Other, 17%) 1463 10000 500 1.46E+10 7.32E+08
Imports Cu-Cathode 166 10000 1000 1.66E+09 1.66E+08 2.56E+00 2.56E-01
Sum 6.08E+01 7.07E+00
3.3 Impact Assessment

3.3.1 Environmental Impacts of Production Technologies in China
3.3.1.1 Primary Production
In Figure 3.4, the environmental impacts of the production of 1kg Cu-cathode from individual
processing technologies as well as the average for the production mix in China can be seen. The
results are shown in Eco-indicator 99 (EI99) points, which are aggregated values for the three
impact categories: Human Health, Ecosystem Quality and Resource Depletion. Eco-indicator
99/Hierarchist was the version chosen for the calculation. It weights Human Health with 40 per
cent, Ecosystem Quality with 40 per cent and Resource Depletion with 20 per cent.
Only the primary production is shown in Figure 3.4, in order to compare the Chinese results to
already existing LCIA results of other global regions. For those regions, only data for primary
production are available in ecoinvent.
It can be seen that the environmental impacts of processes applied in China do not show too much
variation. Generally, the environmental impacts of production with Chinese ore are slightly higher
than the ones with imported ore. This is due to the fact that the Chinese ore has a lower grade than
imported global ore. Also the Chinese electricity mix, consisting of only conventional production by
fossil fuel power stations and no hydropower, increases the EI99 scores.
26
Figure 3.4 Environmental impacts in Eco-indicator 99 points for all primary producing technologies and
averaged for different global regions. The results show the impacts of each technology producing 1kg Cu-
cathode with primary production.
Environmental impacts in Eco-indicator 99 points per kg Cu-cathode produced
Copper, primary, North America
Copper, primary, Latin America
Copper, primary, Europe
Copper, primary, Asia and Pacific
Copper, primary, Indonesia
Copper, primary, Global
China average
Vanuykov, imported ore
Vanuykov, CN ore
Reverberatory, imported ore
Reverberatory, CN ore
Outocumpu, imported ore
Outocumpu, CN ore
Noranda, imported ore
Noranda, CN ore
Blast furnace, imported ore
Blast furnace, CN ore
Ausmelt, imported ore
Ausmelt, CN ore
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9
Comparing the average of the environmental impacts of the Chinese primary production to those of
primary production in global regions, it can be seen that:
 Chinese primary production has fewer environmental impacts than the global average;
 Chinese primary production has fewer environmental impacts than those in Latin America,
Asia and Pacific, and Indonesia;
 Chinese primary production has higher environmental impacts than primary production in
Europe; and
 Chinese primary production shows roughly the same or slightly fewer environmental impacts
than primary production in North America.
However, it should be noted that the values for countries and regions other than China are based on
Inventory data from 1994. Consideration of technological development in the last 15 years would
probably lead to significantly lower impacts in these countries and regions too.
27
The share of Ecosystem Quality category is higher in China than in Europe and in North America,
whereas comparable to the global average and other global regions. The detailed environmental
impacts of each production path are shown in Figure 6.2 in the Appendix.
3.3.1.2 Primary and Secondary Production

Figure 3.5 and Figure 3.6 show the environmental impacts of five processing steps of primary and
secondary production technologies used in China, the former in absolute and the latter in relative
EI99 points.
It can be seen that secondary production has much less impact than the primary production.
Because secondary copper does not carry the burden of mineral extraction, which is accounted only
to the first use of copper, reuse of copper is naturally more environmentally friendly than primary
production.
Looking at the relative results (Figure 3.6) it becomes more evident that the impacts of primary
production, caused by the mineral extraction of Cu-ore, contribute the most to the overall impacts.
More than 70 per cent of the impacts for all primary processes are caused by mining or mineral
extraction, whereas less than 25 per cent come from the reduction or smelting processes (except for
the two technologies of Blast furnace, GLO ore, and Vanuykov, CN ore, which score slightly higher
than 25 per cent). Conversion, electro-refining and transport contribute very little (<5 per cent) to
the overall impacts of primary production. This picture would actually be more accentuated if
emissions from sulfidic tailing deposition were included in the mining step.
The relative results (Figure 3.6) of secondary Cu-cathode production look very different, as the
mining or mineral extraction does not occur. It can be seen that the conversion processes contribute
between 7 per cent and 8 per cent, whereas less than 3 per cent of the environmental impacts come
from electro-refining and transport processes. The relative results for converting, electro-refining
and transport processes of the primary production technologies are all less than 1 per cent.
28
Figure 3.5 Impacts of each of the five process steps for each technology, primary and secondary production.
Environmental impacts in Eco-indicator 99 points for each process step
Secondary copper, CN 0.00

0.26
Vanuykov, GLO ore 3.52 1.03
Vanuykov, CN ore 3.84 1.37
Reverberatory, GLO ore 3.61 1.03
Reverberatory, CN ore 3.72 1.15
Outocumpu, CN ore 3.52 1.03
Outocumpu, GLO ore 3.61 1.14
Noranda, CN ore 3.54 1.03
Noranda, GLO ore 3.58 1.10
Blast furnance, CN ore 3.52 1.03
Blast furnance, GLO ore 3.80 1.34
Ausmelt, GLO ore 3.52 1.03
Ausmelt, CN ore 3.47 1.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Mining Reduction Conversion and anode casting Electrorefining Transport
Figure 3.6 Relative impacts of each of the five process steps for each technology, primary and secondary
production.
Environmental impacts in percentage of Eco-indicator 99 points for each process step
2.5% 2.7%
Secondary copper, CN 87.1% 7.7%
Vanuykov, GLO ore 76.2% 22.4%
Vanuykov, CN ore 73.0% 26.1%
Reverberatory, GLO ore 76.6% 21.9%
Reverberatory, CN ore 75.5% 23.5%
Outocumpu, CN ore 76.2% 22.3%
Outocumpu, GLO ore 75.2% 23.8%
Noranda, CN ore 76.3% 22.3%
Noranda, GLO ore 75.8% 23.2%
Blast furnance, CN ore 76.2% 22.4%
Blast furnance, GLO ore 73.3% 25.8%
Ausmelt, GLO ore 76.2% 22.3%
Ausmelt, CN ore 76.8% 22.1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Mining Reduction Conversion and anode casting Electrorefining Transport
29
3.3.1.3 Detailed Impacts of Mining Processes
As seen above, the mining and beneficiation processes contribute the most to the overall
environmental impacts. Therefore, mining and beneficiation of copper ore were analyzed in detail.
Figure 3.7 shows the environmental impacts for mining and beneficiation processes in China, Latin
America, Asia and Pacific regions and a global mix. The bar sections represent the intermediate
impact categories, whereas the group of colours represent impact the categories Human Health
(orange), Ecosystem Quality (blue) and Resource Depletion (grey).
It can be seen that mainly the impact category Respiratory inorganics (for Human Health) and
Minerals (for Resource Depletion) have the biggest share. Land use (for Ecosystem Quality)
contributes the third most to the overall impacts, but is far smaller than the first two mentioned.
It is not surprising that the depletion of minerals causes environmental impacts in a mining process.
More surprising is that Respiratory inorganics create such large impacts for mining and beneficiation
processes. It is also astonishing that in comparison, impact categories such as fossil fuels
acidification potential and ecotoxicity are almost negligible.
The environmental impacts of mining and beneficiation processes in China, Latin America and the
Asia and Pacific regions are all higher than the world average. This could have its reason in a
relatively strict environmental legislation and enforcement of the other regions (Europe and North
America) but, in the case of China, also in the origin of the ore from mainly underground sources,
which most likely causes higher environmental impacts than open-pit mining. Very evident is the
highest impact of mining and beneficiation processes in the Asia and Pacific region compared to
China and Latin America.
On a lower level one can look at the contribution of each subordinated process to the overall
impacts. Figure 6.3 in the Appendix shows the subordinated processes for mining and beneficiation.
But even this analysis only shows that the beneficiation process carries the largest burden of both
mining and beneficiation. Blasting and disposal of tailings contribute together roughly 15 per cent,
which means that the largest part of the impacts are created during the beneficiation process while
concentrating the extracted minerals (more than 75 per cent). This process is represented as an
individual process in ecoinvent. The consequence of this is that further analysis of the beneficiation
process demands an analysis of the subordinated impacts from individual substances.
30
Figure 3.7 Environmental impacts in Eco-indicator 99 points for mining processes including beneficiation. The
results are shown in details and, at the same time, grouped according to the impact categories Human Health
(orange), Ecosystem Quality (blue) and Resource Depletion (grey).
Cu-concentrate at beneficiation,
ore from China
ore from Latin America
ore from Asia & Pacific (incl.
Australia)
Global mix of ore
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Carcinogens Resp. organics Resp. inorganics

Climate change Radiation Ozone layer
Ecotoxicity Acidification/ Eutrophication Land use
Minerals Fossil fuels
Table 3.12 lists the main contribution of individual substances to the overall impacts of mining and
beneficiation for the global average. This mix was chosen because the results for individual regions
(Latin America, Asia and Pacific, and China) do not differ considerably. This has partly to do with
worldwide similarly applied techniques for mining and beneficiation but also with the lack of specific
mining and beneficiation data of individual countries or regions.
It can be seen that, particularly, emissions to air and extraction of raw materials cause the biggest
environmental burden. The reason behind this must be large dust emissions during mining as well as
the consumption and extraction of raw material and the disposal of large volumes of tailings and
overburdens. These emissions also explain why Respiratory inorganics and Minerals cause the largest
shares of environmental impacts in Figure 3.7. (The list in Table 3.12 was cut off at a certain point.)
31
Table 3.12 Main contribution to the environmental impact of mining and beneficiation (global mix) of
individual substances or processes; results are shown ranked (biggest above) in Eco-indicator 99 points.
Copper concentrate,
Substance Compartment at beneficiation,
Global mix
Total of all compartments 0.67914208
Particulates, < 2.5 um Air 0.16237087
Particulates, > 2.5 um, and < 10um Air 0.073432362
Occupation, dump site Raw 0.041325148
Nitrogen oxides Air 0.035028468
Transformation, to dump site Raw 0.009517485
Nickel, 1.98% in silicates, 1.04% in crude ore, in ground Raw 0.008743084
Chromium Air 0.007855056
Ammonia Air 0.007346653
Gas, natural, in ground Raw 0.007215445
Molybdenum, 0.022% in sulfide, Mo 8.2E-3% and Cu 0.36% in crude ore, in ground Raw 0.004914178
Oil, crude, in ground Raw 0.004512195
Carbon dioxide, fossil Air 0.002607518
Sulfur dioxide Air 0.002582826
Transformation, to arable, non-irrigated Raw 0.00218194
Zinc Air 0.001508275
Nickel Air 0.001332946
Arsenic, ion Water 0.001278891
Nickel, ion Water 0.000945651
Occupation, industrial area, built up Raw 0.000605127
Coal, hard, unspecified, in ground Raw 0.000447159
Cadmium Air 0.000429688
Copper, 2.19% in sulfide, Cu 1.83% and Mo 8.2E-3% in crude ore, in ground Raw 0.000427658
Lead Air 0.00038061
Transformation, to industrial area, built up Raw 0.000363633
Copper, 1.18% in sulfide, Cu 0.39% and Mo 8.2E-3% in crude ore, in ground Raw 0.00032498
Occupation, forest, intensive, normal Raw 0.000314269
Copper Air 0.000299265
Arsenic Air 0.000297899
Transformation, to mineral extraction site Raw 0.000277161
Dinitrogen monoxide Air 0.000276999
Chromium VI Air 0.000269491
Occupation, industrial area Raw 0.000269017
Aluminium, 24% in bauxite, 11% in crude ore, in ground Raw 0.000223227
Occupation, mineral extraction site Raw 0.000161023
Transformation, to industrial area Raw 0.000160979
Chromium, 25.5% in chromite, 11.6% in crude ore, in ground Raw 0.000143862
Cadmium, ion Water 0.000141778
Gas, mine, off-gas, process, coal mining/m3 Raw 0.000141093
Methane, fossil Air 0.000128598
3.3.2 Comparison of Environmental Impacts with Different LCIA Methods

In order to test the sensitivity of the LCIA results, four other methods were used to evaluate the
environmental impacts:
1. CML 2001 (Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Leiden, 2001):

a. Acidification Potential, and
b. Abiotic Depletion;
2. Ecological Scarcity 1997;
3. CED (Cumulative Energy Demand); and
32
4. GWP (Global Warming Potential, IPCC 2001 [climate change]).
For CML 2001, the results can not be aggregated to a single score. Therefore, for this study, two of
the most relevant impact categories for metal processing were chosen. A brief description of each
evaluation method can be found in the Appendix, Section 6.5, ―Short Descriptions of Common Life
Cycle Impact Assessment Methodologies.‖
The production of 1kg Cu-cathode produced in China shows, for all LCIA results, higher impacts
than those of the European mix (Figure 3.8). For the Abiotic Depletion according to CML 01 and
Cumulative Energy Demand, the Chinese results are only slightly higher than the European average.
For the Acidification Potential according to CLM 01 and for the Ecological Scarcity (UBP), they are
more than double. The sum of EI99 points for China is 63 per cent higher than for Europe. This
can be explained mainly by (1) a higher Cu-concentration in the ore being processed in Europe, (2) a
higher share of secondary copper in the European production mix, and (3) a higher percentage of
hydropower in the European electricity mix than in China.
Figure 3.8 Comparison of Chinese and European LCIA results with the four different impact evaluation
methods. From the CLM evaluation methods, the two indicators “Abiotic depletion” and “Acidification
potential” were used. Impacts from both primary and secondary production are included.
Comparison of environmental impacts of 1-kg Cu-cathode produced in Europe and

China (European values normalized on 100 per cent)
Eco-indicator 99 (EI99)
Abiotic depletion (CML)
Acidification potential (CML)
Ecological Scarcity (UBP)
Cumulated Energy Demand

(CED)
Europe China
Global Warming Potential

(GWP, 100 years)
0 50 100 150 200 250
Global Cumulated Abiotic

Ecological Acidification Eco-indicator
Warming Energy depletion
Scarcity (UBP) potential (CML) 99 (EI99)
Potential Demand (CED) (CML)
China 122 109 234 200 115 163
Europe 100 100 100 100 100 100
The detailed comparison of the LCIA results of the evaluation methods is shown in Figure 3.9. In
order to allow for this comparison, the European copper production mix is taken as 100 per cent.
The first and second bars show the same results as in Figure 3.8. The other bars show the
contribution of each production technology, as well as type of raw material used, to the production
33
of 1kg Cu-cathode. Different to Figure 3.4 and Figure 3.5, the individual process impacts represent
the share each process contributes to the assumed production mix of the functional unit in China
(see Table 3.10). Hence, the highest impacts are from Copper primary imported and Outocumpu,
imported ore, as these processes have the highest shares in the production mix.
The Chinese production mix scores for all production techniques are the highest when being
evaluated with Ecological Scarcity (UBP) and Acidification Potential (CML). The reason for this is
the high value these methods assign to emissions that are relatively high in Chinese electricity
production.
34
Figure 3.9 Comparison of the LCIA results for each technology or process contribution to the production of
1kg Cu-cathode in China. Transports, secondary and primary production are shown, both in China and Europe.
The sum of the production/process mix for China is compared to the European average. For comparability, all
results are normalized on the European average.
Comparison of all processes with different LCIA evaluation methods

(European average normalized on 1)
Copper, primary and secondary, Europe
Sum, 1 kg Cu-cathode in China
Copper, primary imported, Global
Transports
Secondary CN scrap
Vanuykov, imported ore Eco-indicator 99 (EI99)
Blast furnace, imported ore Acidification potential (CML)

Abiotic depletion (CML)
Ausmelt, imported ore Ecological Scarcity (UBP)

Cumulated Energy Demand
Vanuykov, CN ore (CED)
Global Warming Potential
(GWP, 100 years)
Noranda, CN ore
Ausmelt, CN ore
Outocumpu, CN ore
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
35
4.0 Conclusions and Implications for Policy Recommendations
The environmental impacts of the copper producing sector are mainly caused by mining and mineral
extraction processes. This is not surprising, as copper can only be found at low concentrations in
minerals (50 ppm in the earth’s crust, and 0.5 per cent to 5.0 per cent in Cu-ore, [Fabian, 1997 in
Classen et al., 2009]). The demand on minerals, the caused land transformation, the stripped tailings
and overburden, as well as emissions from the ore-beneficiation process, cause environmental
impacts that outrange all other processes (see Figure 3.5 and Figure 3.6). Once a Cu-concentrate
with a copper content between 25 per cent and 30 per cent is generated, the majority of the
environmental impacts have already occurred. It is nevertheless astounding that mining outscores all
other processing steps by far. However, it has to be taken into account that very little data on mining
technology and mining emissions could actually be found. Thus, the mining Inventory is mainly
based on information used in the ecoinvent database for a global situation.
In order to improve the environmental performance of the primary copper production, the main
focus should lie on improvement of the mining technologies (e.g., focusing on higher grade
wherever possible), environmental abatement techniques (e.g., improved management of waste
waters and effluents from beneficiation processes, dammed lakes for tailings) and environmental
restoration (e.g., ecological rehabilitation of deposition sites for tailing and overburden). The
obvious lack of data implies that an efficient initiative for gathering environmentally relevant data of
mining could improve the environmental performance of these processes.
Some general recommendations concerning the international trade patterns of the Chinese copper
industry can be deducted. Considering that ore is mainly imported from Chile, Peru, Australia and
Mongolia (see Table 3.11 but also oral communication with Jason Potts), it can be concluded that,
from an environmental point of view, the distance imports are transported does not matter much.
The overall impacts from ore imported from Asian and Pacific regions are higher that those from
Latin America. This means that in order to reduce the environmental impacts caused in exporting
countries, Chinese importers should scrutinize the mining and beneficiation standards of countries
of the Asia and Pacific regions in more detail. For China and also for other countries, improvements
of the mining and beneficiation processes can be achieved by improvement of the mining
technologies, environmental abatement and environmental restoration.
Improving the smelting technologies can reduce considerably the impacts for the processing steps of
Cu-concentrates, particularly as China is largely depending on Cu-concentrate imports. Best available
technologies, such as Flash smelters or Submerged-lace smelters, are already widely used in China.
The remaining, small scale, old-fashioned smelter types such as Reverberatory furnaces and Blast
36
furnaces are generally not used any more. The consequent phase-out of inappropriate technologies,
which is required by law, will therefore improve the standard of primary Chinese copper smelting.
As a consequence of this first main result (the need to improve the mining techniques) but also as a
result of comparison of primary and secondary production paths, reuse of copper is the second
strategy to prevent negative environmental impacts from producing Cu-cathodes. To set up a
comprehensive collection and recycling of all copper-containing products that are waste is
environmentally friendly and often also economically profitable. This simple strategy to keep copper
in the consumption loop once it is made available from primary resources is a straightforward mean
to improve the environmental performance of the Chinese copper producing sector.
As shown in the forecast of the primary and secondary copper production in China in Table 3.11,
the need to set up comprehensive collection systems for copper-containing products is a
compulsory task for policy-makers. Not only must the collection increase to keep pace, as
forecasted, with the growing demand for copper in China, but also the closing of materials loops by
enforced collection has the potential to further increase the share of secondary copper of the
Chinese production mix. As stated above, once copper is mined and processed from primary
resources, the most environmentally friendly way to deal with such a material is to (1) use it as long
as possible and (2) collect and reuse it as completely and as often as possible.
The potential for improved collection systems for copper-containing products has been exhibited in
several projects and programs such as the e-waste program, ―Knowledge Partnerships in e-Waste
Recycling‖ (EMPA, 2010). The experiences made within this program have shown that an e-waste
specific manual separation or simple mechanical processing is apt to separate material into very high
grade, pure secondary resources (Hagelüken & Kerckhoven, 2006; Gmünder, 2007; Laffely, 2007).
Hence the implementations of collection and pre-treatment management systems for e-waste could
increase the efficiency of secondary copper smelters, as the Cu-concentration of the secondary feed
material can be increased by simple measures. Apart from copper, other metals can also be separated
and made available for recovery, which makes the e-waste pre-treatment even more attractive.
The study did not go into details of how secondary copper smelters should be designed, as the data
sample did not cover these smelters separately. It was assumed that secondary copper is processed
with best available technology, particularly with an advanced off-gas cleaning system and with waste
water treatment. Because the capacities for secondary smelters in China is larger than the actual
volumes that are available for treatment, policies could focus on favouring environmentally more
advanced secondary smelters to those without such technology. A registration, a control and a
continuous improvement of the standards (such as the ISO 14000 series) of secondary copper
smelters could bring improvement to the environmental performance of secondary copper
production, if simply those not having the advanced technology are closed down.
37
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www.ecoinvent.org.
EMPA. (2010). E-waste guide, Swiss Federal Laboratories of Materials Testing and Research. Available at
http://ewasteguide.info.
Eugster, M. (2008). External costs in the European copper value chain: A comparison of copper primary
production and recycling. Zurich: ETH.
Fabian, H. (1997). Copper, in Ullmann's encyclopedia of industrial chemistry, Fifth Edition, on CD-ROM.
London: Wiley & Sons.
Frischknecht, R., Jungbluth, N., et al. (2004). Implementation of Life Cycle Impact Assessment methods.
Dübendorf, CH: Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories.
Gmünder, S. (2007). Recycling: From waste to resource: Assessment of optimal manual dismantling depth of a
desktop PC in China based on eco-efficiency calculations. Department of Environmental and Geomatic
Engineering / Technology & Society Lab. Zurich / St.Gallen, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (EPFL) / Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA).
Goedkoop, M., & Spriensma, R. (2000a). The Eco-indicator 99: A damage oriented method for Life Cycle
Impact Assessment, methodology report. Amersfoort, Netherlands: PRé Consultants.
Goedkoop, M., & Spriensma, R. (2000b). The Eco-indicator 99: A damage oriented method for Life Cycle
Impact Assessment, methodology report, Second Edition. Amersfoort, PRé Consultants.
Guinèe, J. B., Gorrée, M., et al. (2001a). Life cycle assessment: An operational guide to the ISO standards; Part
3: Scientific background. Den Haag and Leiden, The Netherlands: Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning
and Environment (VROM) and Centre of Environmental Science (CML).
Guinèe, J. B., Gorrée, M., et al. (2001b). Life cycle assessment: An operational guide to the ISO standards;
Parts 1 and 2. Den Haag and Leiden, The Netherlands: Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and
Environment (VROM) and Centre of Environmental Science (CML).
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Hagelüken, C., & Kerckhoven, T. V. (2006). Maximising returns from e-scrap recycling. Maximizing
returns on materials, held in conjunction with the 2006 IEEE International Symposium on
Electronics and Environment, UMICORE.
Heijungs, R., Guinèe, J., et al. (1992a). Environmental life cycle assessment of products: Backgrounds. Leiden:
RIVM, Centre of Environmental Science (CML).
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RIVM, Centre of Environmental Science (CML).
Hischier, R., Duan, H., et al. (2007). Key environmental impacts of the Chinese EEE industry: A life cycle
assessment study.
Houghton, J. T., Meira-Filho, L. G., et al. (1996). Climate change 1995: The science of climate change.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
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Lisbon: ICSG.
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greenhouse gas inventories. Bracknell, UK: IPCC, WGI Technical Support Unit.
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Cambridge, UK: IPCC, Cambridge University Press.
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draft reference document on best available techniques for the non-ferrous metals industries. European Commission:
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Competitiveness and Sustainability.
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http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=37456.
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Geneva.
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Jiang, J. (2009). Introduction of oxygen bottom blowing copper smelting technology. Wuhan, China: Enfi
Engineering Corporation.
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Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft (BUWAL).
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275, 40–57.
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material recovery facility in Cape Town, South Africa, using process-based cost modelling.
Lausanne / St.Gallen, Switzerland: EPFL / EMPA.
Pimentel, D. (1973). Food production and the energy crisis. Science, 182(4111), 443–449.
PRé Consultants. (1999). SIMAPRO 7.0. P. C. B.V. Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
Rentz, O., Krippner, M., et al. (1999). Report on best available techniques (BAT) in copper production.
Deutsch-Französisches Institut für Umweltforschung (DFIU) and University of Karlsruhe (TH).
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assessment—Principles and framework. GB/T 24042-1999. S. E. P. o. Administration.

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assessment—Interpretation. GB/T 24042-2003. S. E. P. o. Administration.
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VA: USGS.
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calculation. Düsseldorf: VDI.
41
42
6.0 Appendix
6.1 List of Chinese Mines, Smelters and Refineries

Table 6.1 List of mines included in the calculation.
Mine capacities and actual Main output Mining /milling Actual production Production in kt- Average copper content
Type of mine operation Quality of ore Abatement technology
production material capacities Cu metal/year in ore
Recovery of process Dammed
Open- SX-EW
Under- Non Minimal Maximal Recovery water from lake for ecological
2008 2006 2007 2008 2009 (e) cut In-situ Sulfidic Others
ground sulfidic value value of reagent leaching/mineral tailings rehabilitation
mining leaching
process /slags
Dexing owned the biggest dam
ponds with 835 billion m3 and 110
Dexing Concentrates 100ktpd 107 113 116 125 x x 0.38 0.51 x x x x
m height. It is the most adxanced
open-pit mine in China
Yongping Concentrates 10ktpd 19 19 20 20 x x x 0.69 0.71 x x x x
Huogeqi Concentrates 7kpd 21 20 22 19 x x 1.20 1.61 x x x
Dongguashan Concentrates 10kpd 15 22 28 32 x x 1.09 1.20 x x x x
Tongkuangyu Copper mine Concentrates 20kpd 20 20 20 x x 0.49 0.58 x x x x

New mime with advanced
Ashele Concentrates 4ktd 30 28 29 30 x x 0.24 0.26 x x x
management
Dahongshan Concentrates 15ktpd 21 27 33 35 x x x x x
Lala Copper Concentrates 15ktpd 20 27 26 30 x x 0.66 0.76 x x x
Chengmenshan Concentrates 2ktpd 6 6 6 6 x x 0.74 0.82 x x x
Wunuketushan Mine Concentrates 30ktpd (started production end of 2009 x x 0.42 0.56 x x x New and advanced mine
Daye Tonglushan Copper
Concentrates 4ktpd 9 10 10 10 x x 1.41 1.78 x x x
mine
Recovering copper from the waste
Dexing SX-EW plants Cathode 2ktpa 2 2 2 2 x x x x x
stock with bio-leaching process
Anqing Copper Mine Concentrates 3.5ktpd 8 9 9 10 x 1.05 1.05 x x x
Dongchuan Concentrates 7.5ktpd 20 20 20 20 x x 0.81 1.29 x x x
Hongtoushan Copper Mine Concentrates 2ktpd 8 8 8 8 x x 1.5 1.7 x x x x
Sum 305 330 348 346 0.82 0.99
% of entire China 35% 36% 32% 36%
2006 2007 2008 2009

Mining capacity Milling capacity
Entire China 107300 ktpa 126520 ktpa 873 928 1076 961 70~80%
SX-EW production kt 16.1 18.1 16.6 18.9
43
Table 6.2 List of smelters included in the calculation.
Smelter capacities and actual Process applied Capacities Actual productionin ktons/year Abatement technology
production
Fabric filter,
Sulfuric acid Acid waste Cooler, ESP,
hot
plant water lime/carbon
electrostatic Wet or semi-
2008 2006 2007 2008 2009 (e) reported as treatment by adsorption
precipitator dry scrubber
conversion lime and fabric
(ESP) and
of SO2 neutralization filter
cyclone
Guixi (smelter) Old flash smelting-converter-andoe refining 300 300 300 300 300 x x x x x Owned the process for As slag treatment and
recover As2O3 as by product, flotating slag
New Flash smelting-converter-andoe refining (since 2007) 200 29 177 146 x x x x x for further copper recovering
Jinchuan (smelter) Composite smelting-converter-anode 350 258 314 290 380 x x x x x
Yunnan Copper Isasmelting-converter-anode furnace 200 186 208 192 210 x x x x x
Owned the process for As slag treatment and
Jinlong (Tongdu) Flash Smelting-converter-anode 350 209 250 280 330 x x x x x
recover As2O3 as by product
Daye/ Hubei Noranda smelting- converter-anode refining 120 120 120 120 120 x x x x
Reverberatory-converter-anode, to be phased out in 2010 50 30 52 44 62 x x x x
Employ flotation process for reovering Cu of
Shandong Fengxiang (smelter) Outokumpu Flash smelting-flash convertering-anode furance 200 110 178 x x x x x
the smelting slag
Jinchang (Tongling II) Ausmelt smelting-converter-anode 180 150 150 150 180 x x x x x
Blast smelting-converter-anode, stopped in 2009, Ausmelt
Huludao 120 49 34 15 0 x x x x
smelter under construction
Baiyin (smelter) Baiyin furnace (similar to Noranda)-converter-anode refining 100 78 78 81 82 x x x x x
Jinfeng furnace (similar to Vanukov furnace)-converter-anode
Jinfeng 100 26 0 36 75 x x x x x
refining
Kangxi (Liangshan) Blast Furnace, might stop production soon 35 20 27 22 25 x x x x
Yantai Penghui Side blowing bath smelting-converter-anode refininig 60 49 30 33 35 x x x x x
Blast Furnace-converter-anode refining, might stop
Fuchunjiang 80 36 34 35 35 x x x x x
production in 2010/2011
Zhongtiaoshan (Houma) Ausmelt smelting-Ausmelt converting -anode refining 70 53 56 56 62 x x x x x
Feishang SKS smelting (bottom blowing)-converter-anode refining 60 25 30 x x x x
Sum 2'575 1563 1684 1966 2250
% of entire China 93% 82% 80% 80% 82%
Entire China 2778.5 1918 2112 2453 2739
Table 6.3 List of refineries included in the calculation.

Refinery capacities and actual Process applied Capacities Actual productionin ktons/year Abatement technology
production
Use of electricity
Wet or semi- from renewable
2009
2008 2006 2007 2008 dry scrubber energy sources
(estm.)
for acid mist (hydropower/wind
etc.)
Two ISA refineries with total capacity of 600kt/a. One
Guixi 900 444 554 702 800 x n.a.
startsheet refinery with capacity of 300kt/a
Jinchuan Startsheet refinery 400 200 250 284 389 x n.a.
Yunnan Copper ISA refinery 600 378 406 385 345 x n.a.
Jinlong (Tongdu) (refinery) Outokumpu stainless steel refinery 400 209 250 300 350 x n.a.
One ISA refinery with the capacity of 120kt/a, and the
Daye/ Hubei (refinery) 300 205 252 264 256 x n.a.
rest capacity is from conventional startsheet refinery
Shandong Fengxiang Outokumpu stainless steel refinery 200 110 178 x n.a.
Jinchang (Tongling II) (refinery) Startsheet refinery 150 150 150 150 180 x n.a.
Zhangjiagang Startsheet refinery 150 x n.a.
Huludao (refinery) Startsheet refinery 120 58 34 15 8 n.a.
Jintian Startsheet refinery 120 122 135 104 60 n.a.
Baiyin Startsheet refinery 100 76 71 77 85 x n.a.
Chifeng Startsheet refinery 100 x n.a.
Yantai Penghui (refinery) Startsheet refinery 120 72 103 87 85 x n.a.
Zhongtiaoshan (Houma) (refinery) Startsheet refinery 100 55 90 91 62 x n.a.
Fuchunjiang (refinery) Startsheet refinery 100 55 90 91 62 n.a.

Sum 3860 2022 2386 2660 2860
% of entire China 78% 67% 68% 70% 70%
Entire China 4967 3003 3499 3795 4110
44
6.2 Schematic Representation of the Consumer Mix of Copper in Europe
Figure 6.1 Schematic representation of the consumer mix of copper in Europe in ecoinvent. As a proxy for
Europe, the consumption pattern for Germany in 1994 is chosen.
exploitation copper-ore, RLA
copper,
concentrate, at copper, primary, at
e
beneficiation,
e
refinery, RLA 7.5% Primary copper, RLA
RLA
molybdenum,
molybdenite concentrate,
coupleproduction Cu
exploitation copper-ore, ID
copper,
copper, primary, at
e concentrate, at e
refinery, ID 2.2% Primary copper, ID
beneficiation, ID
molybdenum,
coupleproduction Cu
copper,
exploitation copper-ore,

e
beneficiation,
e
refinery, other 9.4% Primary copper, Other
other
other
molybdenum,
coupleproduction Cu
exploitation copper-ore, RER
molybdenum,
coupleproduction Cu
copper,
e
beneficiation,
e
refinery, RER 23.9% Primary copper, RER
RER
copper, blister copper,

at primary smelter, RER
Secondary Copper (old

copper, at regional storage, RER
copper, secondary,
at reffinery 22.0%
Copper scrap,
scrap), RER
from collection
point
Secondary Copper
22.0%
(prompt scrap), RER
copper,
Transportation to RER
concentrate, at e
beneficiation, RLA
(652'883 t)
copper, copper, from imported Primary copper, from

concentrate, at e e concentrates, at refinery, 13.1% imported concentrate,
beneficiation, OCE RER
RER
copper,
concentrate, at e
beneficiation, RER
Source: Classen et al., 2009.
45
6.3 Detailed Environmental Impacts, Cu-Cathode Primary Production
Figure 6.2 Environmental impacts in detailed impact categories in Eco-indicator 99 points. The results show
the impacts of each technology producing 1kg Cu-cathode with primary production.
Environmental impacts in Eco-indicator 99 points per kg Cu-cathode

produced
Copper, primary, North America
Copper, primary, Latin America
Copper, primary, Europe
Copper, primary, Asia and Pacific
Copper, primary, Indonesia
Copper, primary, Global
China average
Vanuykov, imported ore
Vanuykov, CN ore
Outocumpu, CN ore
Noranda, CN ore
Blast furnace, imported ore
Ausmelt, imported ore
Ausmelt, CN ore
Carcinogens Resp. organics Resp. inorganics

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9
Climate change Radiation Ozone layer
Ecotoxicity Acidification/ Eutrophication Land use
Minerals Fossil fuels
The environmental impact category Human Health comprises:
 Carcinogens
 Respiratory organics
 Respiratory inorganics
 Climate change
 Radiation
 Ozone layer
The environmental impact category Ecosystem Quality comprises:
 Ecotoxicity
 Acidification / Eutrophication
46
 Land use
The environmental impact category Resource Depletion comprises:
 Minerals
 Fossil fuels
6.4 Contribution Analysis of Mining and Beneficiation

Figure 6.3 Contribution analysis of mining and beneficiation processes in the Asia and Pacific regions.
6.5 Short Descriptions of Common Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Methodologies
6.5.1 Eco-Indicator 99
Refer to the Eco-indicator 99 (EI99) manual for designers (download from http://www.pre.nl/eco-
indicator99/ei99-reports.htm).
47
Advantages:
Scientifically well-defined method in agreement with ISO/EN 14042 (2000), as long as no single
score indicators (Eco-indicator points) are used for external communication of comparative LCA
studies. End-point modelling provides safeguard subjects that are easier to rely upon for weighting
than environmental problem areas. Different mental models of decision-makers are reflected by the
methodology.
Disadvantages:
The method provides a single score and thus could lead to over- or misinterpretation due to
seemingly very clear results.
6.5.2 CML 2001

Refer to online textbook CML guide, part 2a, chapter 4.2–4.3.3 (Guinèe et al., 2001); CML guide,
part 3, chapter 4.1–4.2 (Guinèe et al., 2001).
Advantages:
Scientifically well-defined method in complete agreement with ISO/EN 14042 (2000).
Disadvantages:
This framework provides a set of many indicators for environmental problems. The results might
not be unambiguous. The interpretation (weighting of different environmental problems) has to be
done unaided by scientific information.
The results can not be aggregated to a single score. Therefore, for this study, two of the most
relevant impact categories for metal processing were chosen and compared to the other LCIA
results. These are Acidification Potential and Abiotic Depletion.
6.5.3 Ecological Scarcity 1997

The following description is copied from Frischknecht et al. (2004):
The method of ecological scarcity—also called eco-scarcity or eco-points method

(from the German name of the unit used—―Umweltbelastungspunkte‖) allows,
48
according to Brand et al. (1997) ―a comparative weighting and aggregation of various
environmental interventions by use of so-called eco-factors.‖ Brand et al. (1997) is
the second report that actually updates and complements the first publication of this
method, published in 1990 (Ahbe et al., 1990).
The method contains characterisation factors for different emissions to air, water
and top-soil/groundwater as well as for the use of energy resources and some types
of waste. All these factors are calculated from the present pollution level (current
flows) and on the pollution considered as critical (critical flows). The latter ones are
thereby deduced from the scientifically supported goals of the Swiss environmental
policy. (Frischknecht et al., 2004, p. 55)
Advantages:
The methodology reflects the political perception of environmental problems in Switzerland (similar
concept exists for the Netherlands), suitable for political decisions.
Disadvantages:
Not in agreement with ISO 14042. The methodology has many ―blind spots‖ but nevertheless
provides a single score and thus could lead to over- or misinterpretation due to seemingly very clear
results.
6.5.4 IPCC 2001 (Climate Change)

The following description is copied from Frischknecht et al., 2004:
The characterisation of different gaseous emissions according to their global

warming potential and the aggregation of different emissions in the impact category
climate change is one of the most widely used methods in life cycle impact
assessment (LCIA). Characterisation values for greenhouse gas emissions are
normally based on global warming potentials published by the IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (Houghton et al., 1996; IPCC, 1997;
Albritton & Meira-Filho, 2001; IPCC, 2001). The figures given in these publications
are used not only for the characterisation of greenhouse gases (Heijungs et al., 1992a;
Heijungs et al., 1992b; Guinèe et al., 2001a; Guinèe et al., 2001b) but also within
impact assessment methods like Eco-indicator 99 (Goedkoop & Spriensma, 2000) or
environmental scarcity 1997 (Brand et al., 1997). All these methods evaluate the
49
emissions of greenhouse gases due to anthropogenic activities investigated for the
inventory table.
Three time horizons are used to show the effects of atmospheric lifetimes of the
different gases. For this study the GWP in 100 years was chosen as time horizon of
the calculation.
Use of the method
Direct global warming potentials (GWPs) are relative to the impact of carbon
dioxide. GWPs are an index for estimating relative global warming contribution due
to atmospheric emission of a kg of a particular greenhouse gas compared to the
emission of a kg of carbon dioxide (Albritton & Meira-Filho, 2001). (Frischknecht et
al., 2004, p. 97)
Advantages:
Scientifically well-defined method for classification and characterization.
Disadvantages:
No complete impact assessment, but one method usually used among others (e.g., in CML 01,
IMPACT 2000+,…).
6.5.5 Cumulative Energy Demand

The following description is copied from Frischknecht et al. (2004):
Cumulative Energy Requirements Analysis (CERA) aims to investigate the energy

use throughout the life cycle of a good or a service. This includes the direct uses as
well as the indirect or grey consumption of energy due to the use of, e.g.
construction materials or raw materials. This method has been developed in the early
seventies after the first oil price crisis and has a long tradition (Pimentel, 1973;
Boustead & Hancock, 1979).
According to VDI (1997), "the data on the cumulative energy demand ... form an
important base in order to point out the priorities of energy saving potentials in their
complex relationship between design, production, use and disposal". However, the
cumulative energy demand (CED) is also widely used as a screening indicator for
50
environmental impacts. Furthermore, CED-values can be used to compare the
results of a detailed LCA study to others where only primary energy demand is
reported. Finally CED-results can be used for plausibility checks because it is quite
easy to judge on the basis of the CED whether or not major errors have been made.
Cumulative energy analysis can be a good ―entry point‖ into life cycle thinking. But it
does not replace an assessment with the help of comprehensive impact assessment
methods such as eco-indicator 99 or ecological scarcity. If more detailed information
on the actual environmental burdens and especially on process-specific emissions are
available—and the ecoinvent database provides such information—more reliable
results are available with such methods. Thus Kasser and Pöll (1999) e.g. write that
the CED ―makes only sense in combination with other methods".
Different concepts for determining the primary energy requirement exist. For CED
calculations one may chose the lower or the upper heating value of primary energy
carriers where the latter includes the evaporation energy of the water present in the
flue gas. Furthermore one may distinguish between energy requirements of
renewable and non-renewable resources. Finally, different ways exist how to handle
nuclear and hydro electricity. But so far there is no standardized way for this type of
assessment method. (Frischknecht et al., 2004, p. 31)
Advantages:
Only energy demand is needed as inventory data, since no emissions are valuated in this method.
Disadvantages:
Method can lead to wrong conclusions because effects of emissions are not considered, especially
when processes have emissions that are not related to energy.
51

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China Copper Supply

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China and

China and Global

A Life Cycle Assessment Study

Martin Streicher-Porte, Empa

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Copper Supply Chain IISD contributes to sustainable development by

February 2010 International Institute for Sustainable Development

2.0 General Approach / Life Cycle Assessment Method .......................................................................... 6

3.0 Life Cycle Assessment of Chinese Copper Production ..................................................................... 12

4.0 Conclusions and Implications for Policy Recommendations ........................................................... 36

1.1 Goals of the Commodity Chain Sustainability Analysis

1.2 Chinese Copper Market

Others (< 200'000 t/a)

Source: International Copper Study Group (ICSG), 2009.

2.1 General Approach

In order to assess the environmental impacts, a compilation of an LCI of Chinese copper

M ining Scrap M ining Scrap

B enef iciation B enef iciation

Ref ining Ref ining

M anuf acturing M anuf acturing

W aste Recycling W aste Recycling

2.2 LCA Method

 GB/T 24040-1999, identical to ISO 14040 (1997): Environmental Management—Life Cycle

Goal and scope definition

2.2.3 Inventory Analysis

2.2.4 Impact Assessment Method

Damage to Surplus energy for future

Regional effect on Land use :

3.1 Goal and Scope Definition

3.1.1 Functional Unit

3.1.2 System Characterization

Source: BGRIMM, 2009a; BGRIMM, 2009b; Brook Hunt, 2009.

Cu-cathode at regional storage, 9.3%

copper, copper, Cu-cathode, 45.8% Cu-cathode, primary

3.1.3 System Borders

3.2 Inventory Analysis

Figure 3.2 Copper prices. LME = London Metal Exchange.

LME COPPER PRICE (Cash)

LME average LME highs LME lows Linear (LME average)

Source: ICSG, 2007.

3.2.1 Chinese Mines, Smelters and Refineries

3.2.1.1 Chinese Copper Mines

Table 3.3 Chinese mines included in this study.

Source: BGRIMM, 2010.

3.2.1.2 Chinese Copper Smelters

Table 3.4 Average ore grade and content of co-produced metals.

Average Average Average assumed

Jinlong (Tongdu) Flash Smelting-converter-anode 350 209 250 280 330

Source: BGRIMM, 2010.

Source: IPPC, 2009; BGRIMM, 2010.

3.2.1.3 Chinese Copper Refineries

Yunnan Copper ISA refinery 600 378 406 385 345

Zhangjiagang Startsheet refinery 150

Huludao (refinery) Startsheet refinery 120 58 34 15 8

Jintian Startsheet refinery 120 122 135 104 60

Baiyin Startsheet refinery 100 76 71 77 85

Chifeng Startsheet refinery 100

Yantai Penghui (refinery) Startsheet refinery 120 72 103 87 85

Zhongtiaoshan (Houma) (refinery) Startsheet refinery 100 55 90 91 62

Fuchunjiang (refinery) Startsheet refinery 100 55 90 91 62

Source: BGRIMM, 2010.

3.2.2 Copper Scrap Recycling in China

Source: BGRIMM, 2009a; BGRIMM, 2009b.

Source: BGRIMM, 2009b.